


The Tale of a Lovely Child

by Inky_moro



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27664813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inky_moro/pseuds/Inky_moro
Summary: A Dark Fairy Tale (that doesn't start out too dark)I wrote this for English classI'm considering making it into like, a full length novel.But for now, enjoy the fic.[Posting a section at a time because it needs a lot of editing]
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. The Tale of A Lovely Child

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first part..
> 
> Short and kinda boring, tbh
> 
> Edited a little bit via grammarly, for grammar issues. 
> 
> The story will get better :))

Once upon a time, there was a lovely child. Indeed, this child was the most lovely throughout all the lands. The lovely child had been born to decent parents, who lived in a decent house, in the decentest town. The parents loved the child with all their hearts, for it was the loveliest child they’d ever had. The townspeople all loved the child, for it never got into any trouble and was the best in school.  
  
“That little child is an angel,” the townspeople would proclaim, “Truly, the sweetest child there’s ever been.”  
  
In time, the child grew and became, somehow, even lovelier. So lovely that people from all over the lands would visit for a chance to glimpse the lovely child. So lovely that the lovely child became the consort of the leader of the lands. So lovely that the child became the leader of the lands. The people loved the child, for it was the loveliest leader they’d ever known. They followed the child to peace, for none who had glimpsed its beauty could stand against the lovely child.  
  
It also seemed that those who glimpsed the child’s beauty would fall in love with it. Citizens from all over the lands, from noble to commoner, sought their lovely leader’s hand. Crowns of carnations, oceans of orchids, piles of peonies, rivers of roses, and towers of tulips would appear before the child every day, each presented by a different suitor. Despite this, these offers were never accepted. The child had the flowers be planted in the gardens so that all could enjoy their beauty and fragrance. If the suitors objected, they said not a word, letting their love for their leader fester within their hearts. They were happy, as were all the citizens of the lands, for they loved the loveliest child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was considering posting the second part as proof this thing gets more interesting- but then I'd have to edit 1.7k words ;-;
> 
> Total Word Count (of the unedited, complete version): 6520


	2. The Tale of a Prince/The Tale of a Normal Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, there was a very normal child...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHA! I finally got a friend to look over this for me :))  
> It has been edited, but there still might be a few errors. For that, you have my deepest apologies.  
> I am so so so sorry this took so long.  
> Hopefully pt 3 will be up soon.

Now I shall tell you another story, this time, of a prince.

Once upon a time, there was a very normal child. He was not an average child or an ordinary child, he was simply, quite normal. This child was also a prince, born to the leaders of the lands, he lived in the palace, located in the capital of the lands. He was a miracle, for a curse had been placed upon the royal line, that it would bear no heirs to the throne. The people knew of the curse, and rejoiced the prince's birth, believing it was a good omen as to the future of the lands. The fortune-tellers proclaimed, “There will be a new era, one of peace and prosperity, of joy and happiness, under our dear prince’s rule.” The people celebrated.

(Now the fortune tellers would learn they were wrong later, but about what?)

The prince was raised to become a king. He learned the arts of diplomacy and war, logic and law, and he also learned to be noble, honorable, and kind. The prince grew to love his people and to be loved by them. The prince would lay down his life for his people, and his people would lay down their lives for him. This is of course why, when uprisings against the crown began, the prince led the charge against them. When months of attempted reasoning with the rebels were unsuccessful, he spent many a year on the battlefield, with loyal soldiers at his side.

The prince’s life was a normal one, but everything about his return from war was odd. Firstly, when he awoke he was greeted by a small group of soldiers, claiming to have made peace with the rebellion. Secondly, the rebel soldiers walked back to the capital with his battalion, each one as happy as a clam, appearing to hold no grudge against the crown or any memories of one. Thirdly, when the party reached the gates of the palace he saw his parents in servants’ garbs, attending to the sea of blood-red flowers that now inhabited the gardens as if they had not a care in the world. Now, the prince was certain none of these things would have happened in a million years, and thus began questioning his sanity.

After determining that he was very much in his right mind, the prince concluded that something had gone terribly wrong in his absence. By speaking to the dazed fools that his people had become, the prince learned of the new leader of the lands, a lovely leader, so it appeared. An era of peace had arrived, but it was unnatural. To the prince, the palace and the surrounding lands seemed as if it was under a deep fog of calm, which disguised the truth of unrest and rebellion. Thus, he hatched a plot to clear the fog, and reclaim the throne. 

Unfortunately for the prince, he was unable to incite passion in any to join him. When he yelled that he was their prince, they laughed in his face. When he offered them power or riches, they claimed they had all they ever wanted, that they were happy. When he violently shook their shoulders and screeched at them to use their heads, they simply frowned and sent him away. So the prince withdrew into the shadows and resolved to learn all he could about his enemy.

Upon discovering that the flowers overflowing from the gardens were gifts from suitors, the prince knew he had found his way into the palace. The next morning, he ripped a rose and its roots from a family’s flowerbox and got in line with all the other suitors. One by one, they entered the palace, and one by one they left, each with a contented smile. When asked whether their proposal had been accepted they all replied,

“No, but I still love our lovely leader. Good luck to you.”

The prince grew evermore bewildered until at last, it was his turn to offer the imposter that now led the lands the rose in his hand. He entered the room quietly and chuckled under his breath upon noticing there was only one guard. The throne had been turned away from the door, and from this angle, he could only observe a portion of the silver cloak and hood the seated figure wore. He crept slowly towards the seat, one hand ready to draw his sword, one clenched around the rose. He froze when a crisp, melodic voice asked if the person before him was the last suitor, causing the single guard to look around and lock eyes with him.

“There’s one more my liege” the guard croaked, motioning for him to come closer.

“Who are you?” the seated figure asked in a tired tone, addressing him without moving an inch. The boy paused for a second, before deciding to approach the subject directly.

“I am the heir to the throne upon which you sit” the prince stated boldly.

The guard laughed, stepping between him and the throne while turning to the cloaked figure, “Shall I take this foolish boy away, my liege?”

“No” came the reply, and the guard simply nodded, returning to their post. 

Something about him appeared to have piqued the figure’s interest though, as it had turned its head enough for a lovely lock of hair to be visible from under the silver hood. The figure then stood and turned, slowly making its way towards the tense boy, as if it was wary of him. The boy smirked at this but frowned upon seeing that the being’s silver cloak hid most of its face, and drowned the rest in shadow. 

“You have not seen my face?” a questioning voice arose from somewhere in the many folds of the cloak as the figure drew closer.

“No, I haven’t” The boy replied cautiously, uncertain as to the silver draped figure’s intentions.

“Yet, you have come to offer me a rose?” The figure seemed quite confounded, which confused the boy to no end.

“No!” He shouted, “I have come to kill you, and reclaim what is mine!”

The figure drew back, startled by the boy’s harsh tone, watching wide-eyed as he reached for his sword. However, to the boy’s dismay, the guard appeared in an instant, pressing a sword against his throat. Forced to stand down, the boy awaited his certain doom, trembling slightly all the while. But the boy was not sent to the dungeons, instead, the silver hooded figure ordered that he be kept in a guest room and watched at all times.

It seemed the normal boy would never reach the end of his confusion. He simply could not fathom why he hadn’t been sent to his execution. He became certain that it must be some sort of trick or code to have him sent to rooms in the palace, perhaps an executioner would be waiting there when he entered. The boy drew himself into quite a panic, considering all the possible ways he could meet his end. By the time they arrived, the boy looked like a cornered cat, hackles raised, and teeth bared, desperately trying to figure out a way to escape.

When the door was opened, however, the only thing awaiting him was a rather familiar-looking room. The boy was stunned at first, then, figuring there must be a trap somewhere, climbed upon a couch and poked at the surrounding floor. Upon finding no tripwire or fake tiles, the boy leapt onto a table where he repeated the process of poking at the floor. He leapt from table to chair, chair to wardrobe, wardrobe to cabinet, and so on. All the while poking the floor, until he collapsed upon the bed, where, tense and exhausted, he finally fell asleep.

The next day the boy was startled from sleep by a knock on the room’s door. The cloaked figure entered with two guards and seemed to stare at him, though its face was still drowned in fabric and shadow. The boy yelled, he ranted and raved at the figure, but he did not attack it. He couldn’t stand against two guards in full armor with no weapon, after all. So he waited and plotted.

Each day the figure would visit, and each night he would plan its demise till he drifted off to the dreamworld. This lasted for many days and nights until one night the guards took longer than usual to switch shifts. Seizing the opportunity, the boy crept carefully from the room and headed to his parents’ old room, which he figured would be the likeliest place for the figure to reside. He paused when he found the door unguarded, but continued forward anyway, in hopes the silver cloaked figure would be inside.

The boy froze when he saw the silver cloak just a few inches away, breathing a sigh of relief when he realized that it was simply hung upon a hook. Realizing that the figure’s face would no longer be obscured, he hastened forward. In his curiosity, the boy forgot to be careful where he stepped, and the creak of a floorboard echoed through the room. He cursed upon hearing the sound of footsteps and ducked behind a couch near the fireplace.

“Hello?” a soft, perhaps slightly annoyed, voice breached the tense air.

The boy looked desperately around for some kind of weapon.

“Who’s there?” the voice was louder, with a tinge of fear strung through it, and it echoed slightly in the cavern of a room.

Quick as a flash, the boy darted towards the fireplace, grabbing the fire poker he had noticed and brandishing it like a sword. He turned towards the figure, whose pale face was illuminated by the fire, and froze. 

It was the loveliest thing the boy had ever seen. Suddenly, all that mattered was the lovely leader. Not the throne, or reinciting war, or freeing his people. They weren’t his people anyway, they were the lovely leader’s, he was glad that there was peace, and what claim did he have to the throne? None, the throne belonged to the one he loved, the loveliest leader of all the lands.

The normal boy would be loyal to his lands, to his love, to his leader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will attempt to post pt 3 within the week  
> Have an excellent holiday my lovelies


	3. The Tale of The Leaders of The Lands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, there were leaders of the lands. Some were noble, just, and righteous, others were wicked, cruel, and immoral. They were a powerful line, stretching farther back than anyone could really remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally remembered to revise and publish this chapter- sorry its late

Now I shall tell you of the leaders of the lands.

Once upon a time, there were leaders of the lands. Some were noble, just, and righteous, others were wicked, cruel, and immoral. They were a powerful line, stretching farther back than anyone could really remember. Despite their power, there was always one thing they feared, the fairylands. 

One should not presume all the fairies were fearsome, some were kind and benevolent, but some used their powers to play awful tricks on the humans. Those were the ones to be afraid of, for only a fairy could destroy a fairy, and none were ever willing to do so. If one ever angered a fairy somehow, they could be certain they’d be cursed. 

Here’s where our story really begins.

For many centuries not a single discordant word had been muttered between the fairy and human lands. The people didn’t bother the fairies in the enchanted wood, and the fairies kept mostly to themselves, only taking the occasional firstborn child. The current leaders were an arrogant, foolish lot, who believed the fairies were scared of the human’s might. Now, this might not have led to much, had the population of the lands not begun to swell as it did. There was not enough space for all the citizens, and they had to expand. The leaders were faced with a desolate desert, a mountain range, and a forest full of fairies. 

They went for the woods. They hired a great many of the citizens to begin clearing it away. The people functioned as one great entity, a beast with a thousand limbs, each carrying an axe or saw. The creature cut down trees with great speed, cheering as each one fell. (A few of the limbs may have gotten smushed, but that was no big deal) The beast hauled the logs away, for craftspersons to cut and carve one day.

As you can imagine, the fairies were furious. Their home was being demolished by mindless buffoons. The diverse cast of characters descended as one, their magical essences were interwoven to form a cloud of darkness that destroyed any human that touched it. Many fled, others stood their ground, swinging their axes at anything that moved, often lopping off branches of trees or each other's heads instead of coming close to hurting any fairy. 

Meanwhile, at the castle, a very powerful fairy turned the guards into toads as it made its way to the throne room. Once there, it stared at the leaders of the lands, who were laughing and joking at their ancestors’ fear of the fairies. The candles were all snuffed out at once, and the leaders ceased their laughing. The fairy seemed at once too close and quite far away as it whispered a curse upon them.

The fairy left, and the leaders were quick to laugh it off as some sort of shared dream or delusion. They grew worried when they noticed all the guards were gone and toads were hopping all about the halls of the palace. However, they had the maids take the toads outside, and hired new guards, and quickly forgot about the incident.

They grew worried when some of the people began to blame them for the deaths of their loved ones, rebelling against their rule. They laughed, saying there was bound to be rebellion eventually, though in their hearts they felt their power breaking down, like a stone finally succumbing to the elements. The rebels left, and soldiers followed them.

They grew worried when they could produce no heir. Of all the things, this was what led them to panic, as an heir meant they had done their part to keep the bloodline alive, to keep power in their family. This was the one thing they’d been told they must do their entire lives, to have an heir. So they searched far and wide for some magical means to break the spell. No fairies would help them, they were still terribly upset about their missing chunk of forest. The fortune-tellers could produce no clear signs. Their only hope was an eccentric warlock who lived, according to rumor, somewhere in the mountains.

They searched and they searched, and somehow, they found the warlock. He whipped them up some spell or potion or other magical nonsense, and sent them on their way, muttering about how he hated visitors. In time, the warlock's cure appeared to have worked, and a baby boy was born to the leaders of the lands. They were so relieved to finally have an heir, but their relief was short-lived. For on the day of the prince’s birth, the fortune-tellers all received a simple, horrible message. Magic would fell the boy.

The leaders knew better now than to doubt this omen or laugh it off. They immediately ordered that all magic be erased from history. No one could speak, think, or- spirits forbid- hear about it from anyone. They reprinted all the textbooks and repainted all the murals in hopes it would keep magic away from their heir.

Their heir was raised to be kind, honorable, and noble. The people grew to love him, and he grew to love the people. He was taught many things but was never told of magic. Eventually, the prince wanted to fight for his people against the rebels, and he was allowed to. After all, it was magic that would fell him, not a sword.

In his absence, the leaders grew bored. They believed they had nothing to worry about, the throne was secure and the prince was safe at war. They began to hear rumors of a lovely youth, and being who they were, had to have such loveliness for themselves. They asked the youth to be a consort to the throne, sending a carriage for it to visit the palace. It accepted the invitation and the cloak that was offered to hide their loveliness. 

The youth entered the throne room, and upon request, drew back its hood. The people were in awe of the lovely youth, bowing before it and offering it whatever its heart desired. When it asked for the throne, none of them blinked an eye, merely asking to serve their new leader in whatever way possible. So they became servants, working in the gardens and cleaning the dusty old castle.

  
  



	4. The Story of Children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now I shall tell you a story of Children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost forgot about this baby, since I've been kinda swamped w/ school. 👀 lookin' at you, chemistry.
> 
> But anyway, here are parts 4 & 5!

Now I shall tell you a story of children

Once upon a time, there were some children. These children were average, by any definition, and quite common. They, like the lovely child, were born to decent parents, who lived in a decent house, in the most decent town. They were not rotten or cruel, but they occasionally engaged in bouts of mischief, which annoyed their parents to no end. They were cared for decently enough until one day when a very lovely child was born. It was as if the average children were tattered old dolls, thrown away in favor of the newest design. They didn’t understand what it was about this child that caused all the adults to fawn over it like it was the heir to the throne, and they wouldn’t know for quite some time. They were kept away from the lovely child as if they might taint it with their average aura.

The average children grew resentful of the lovely child, for everyone else in town thought them mere nuisances, fleas attempting to nest in the fur of the lovely child. The years continued on as they began to plot ways to leave or to get rid of the lovely child. Some kids thought it’d be best to go to some other halfway decent town and ask for help, while others thought they should sneak in and steal the child, leaving them in the woods for some poor stranger- or a bear- to find.

One day, as they were discussing the best course of action yet again, a toddler stumbled toward them. This was the lovely child, and it greeted them with such a lovely smile on its lovely face, they forgot any sort of animosity they had felt toward it. Instead, they became much nicer children themselves, not getting into any sorts of mischief, they were far too busy playing with and helping the lovely child. 

  
  



	5. The Story of Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now another tale, this one of the beginnings of a family, parents.

Now another tale, this one of the beginnings of a family, parents. 

Once upon a time, there were parents. They were decent parents, not too good at the job, but not bad at it either. They themselves had had decent parents, and they lived in the same house as one of their in-laws had, in a town that had grown little since their parents had lived and died there. They were kind people, always willing to help someone in need. 

There came a time when a sickness swam through the town’s citizens, infecting a few of the parents’ children. They searched desperately for some sort of cure before they themselves could catch the horrible sickness. They stumbled upon a medicine woman near the woods, who showed them a plant that would cure most any sickness. Being the people they were, the parents took as much of the plant as they could carry back to the town. In a few days, it was like the citizens had never been sick at all. 

Many shifting seasons later there was a knock upon the parents’ door. They opened it to find the medicine woman carrying in her arms a baby swathed in cloth. She quickly explained that there were people after her and that she needed people to care for her newborn. The parents were shocked at first and wary upon hearing that no one should know it was not their own child. However, they remembered the woman’s kindness, and how her cure had saved their children, so they took the child from her arms and brought it inside. They put it inside an old crib they had once used for their own children, and they laid down to rest.

In the early morning, they heard soft cries from the child and went to feed it something. They hadn’t had a child of their own in several seasons and had to give it their goat’s milk. When they approached the crib, the newborn looked right into their eyes, and they forgot all about the medicine woman and her rushed explanations. This was their child, and they had to get it some food.

  
  



End file.
